LILIES - RHS Lily Group

From the Chairman
Pat Huff writes an introduction to the Lily Group and
its history in recent years.
“Amateurs determined to grow even the
apparently ungrowable” is the way Brent Elliott
describes the membership of the Lily Group.
His fascinating article (see pages 28-35)
chronicles the Group’s inception in 1932 and
its activities up until 1990, the beginning of the
end of the twentieth century. Although there
have been some fundamental changes over the
Group’s 75 year history, Brent’s characterisation
of our members is as true now as it ever was.
Despite the presence of many professional
gardeners and nurserymen amongst us, we are
still all “amateurs” in the original sense: lovers of these beautiful, demanding and
often exasperating plants.
Taking up the history of the Group where Brent left off, Harris Howland was
succeeded as Chairman of the Group by Tim Whiteley. Tim’s woodland garden
on the Bucks/Northants border is one of the best places in England to see lilies.
(And snowdrops. And woody plants, particularly the genus Euonymus.) His
encyclopaedic knowledge of the genus combined with his experience as an
RHS judge and his international contacts throughout the lily world ensured that
the Group was always in touch with the latest developments in breeding and
cultivation.
Tim was Chairman when I joined the Committee in 1998. Although the
founding members of the Lily Committee back in 1931 included such illustrious
names as Frederick Stern, Arthur Grove and Amos Perry, at my first meeting I was
in the company of the likes of Tim Whiteley, Harris Howland, Michael Upward
and the late Derek Fox (see pp. 15-17). When I met him Derek had already
published the indispensable Growing Lilies, and created the wonderful Bullwood
hybrids such as ‘Lake Tahoe’ and ‘Lake Tulare’. These lovely lilies are now sadly
rare in cultivation but incredibly sought after when they turn up in the trade or
in the Group’s bulb auctions. Despite his immense prestige, Derek was funny,
modest and very friendly to a newcomer. When I first joined the Committee, two
other links to the Lily Group’s heroic past were also still around, and equally
helpful. Dee Simmons (see pp. 5-8) and I spoke regularly on the phone, and I
sat next to Bill Baker at the lunch celebrating Harris Howland’s being awarded
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